U.S. women rattle off second straight defeat of Ireland

Glendale, AZ (Sports Network) - The United States women's national team
defeated Ireland for the second time in four days, claiming a 2-0 victory at
the University of Phoenix Stadium on Saturday.

The Americans squared off against the Irish at Jeld-Wen Field on Wednesday and
thrashed the European nation 5-0 on the back of a hat trick from Alex Morgan
and a brace from Sydney Leroux.

Morgan picked up where she left off, scoring less than two minutes into
Saturday's rematch.

The 23-year-old opened the scoring when she latched on to a through ball from
Shannon Boxx on the left side of the box and fired a left-footed shot past
Emma Byrne at the far post.

Morgan turned provider seven minutes before the break, setting up Megan
Rapinoe to double the U.S.'s advantage. Morgan broke free on the left and
made it to the endline, pulling a pass back to an unmarked Rapinoe at the
penalty spot to slam home the nail in the coffin with a one-time effort.

The U.S. has not lost a match since falling to 1-0 to Japan in the Algarve Cup
on March 5, its only loss in the calendar year thus far.

The Americans return to action with a friendly match against China on December
8.